Night Hawks: Stories (PB) (2019)

Charles Johnson's Night Hawks presents an eclectic, masterful collection of stories tied together by Buddhist themes and displaying all the grace, heart, and insight for which he has long been known. Spanning genres from science fiction to realism, "Johnson's writing, filled with the sort of long, layered sentences you can get happily lost in, conveys a kindness; a sense that all of us...have our own stories" (The Seattle Times).

In "The Weave," Ieesha and her boyfriend carry out a heist at the salon from which she has just been fired--coming away with thousands of dollars of merchandise in the form of hair extensions. "Night Hawks," the titular story, draws on Johnson's friendship with the late playwright August Wilson to construct a narrative about two writers who meet at night to talk. In "Kamadhatu," a lonely Japanese abbot has his quiet world upended by a visit from a black American Buddhist whose presence pushes him toward the awakening he has long found elusive. "Occupying Arthur Whitfield," about a cab driver who decides to rob the home of a wealthy passenger, reminds readers to be grateful for what they have. And "The Night Belongs to Phoenix Jones" combines the real-life story of a "superhero" in the city of Seattle with an invented narrative about an aging English professor who decides to join him.

With precise, elegant, and moving language, Johnson creates an "arresting" array of "indelible moments that show Johnson to be a master of the short form" (Library Journal, starred review). Night Hawks is "a masterpiece...[that] ultimately offers a message of empowerment and hope" (Oprah.com).